\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"MIKAELA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4063051_web1_251208-consumption-site-00047.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no timeline for the opening of the proposed provincial supervised drug consumption site in the West Exchange District. <\/p>\n
On March 5, Housing Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said the province\u2019s first supervised consumption site was just weeks away from opening in a mobile clinic parked at the west Exchange District site \u2014 a Henry Avenue warehouse \u2014 the provincial government purchased for a permanent facility.<\/p>\n
Kinew said his government wants the facility to be a health services provider, and is asking the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre, which has been chosen to run it, how it\u2019s going to fulfil its mandate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe owe it to the people of Manitoba to make sure that every single consideration\u201d around health care, law enforcement and community safety are addressed with a co-ordinated response, he said.<\/p>\n
He credited Smith for doing \u201can amazing job\u201d in creating a comprehensive plan but said there are still some serious issues to be addressed before opening the doors.<\/p>\n
He said the government will work with the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre to ensure it meets its targets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an iterative process,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we will be hearing from them, I think, in the next few days about their initial response. If we have concerns at that point, of course we\u2019ll be very direct\u2026. \u2018Here\u2019s goals we want to see from you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis might take more weeks, more months in order for us to do this. But I think it\u2019s necessary because it will lead to better outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Becoming aware in recent weeks that the province didn\u2019t need federal approval to legally operate the site based on an urgent public health need led to the province setting its own priorities, Kinew said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis might take more weeks, more months in order for us to do this. But I think it\u2019s necessary because it will lead to better outcomes for the person potentially using the supervised consumption site in the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Area residents and businesses have raised concerns about a potential increase in crime and a drop in property values when the site opens.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also have a responsibility not just to think about the person who\u2019s addicted, we have a responsibility to think about the entire society,\u201d the premier said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to think about what are the safety impacts on the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The public wants to see harm-reduction efforts such as a supervised consumption site succeed, but that support could disappear, \u201cIf this thing is done sloppily or it\u2019s done poorly and it reverses that open mindedness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n The opening has been delayed for the supervised drug-consumption site location at 366 Henry Ave. <\/p>\n The Progressive Conservatives said the Kinew government should scrap its plan for a facility, which the NDP ran on in the last election.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have questions on safety, on funding, on how it\u2019s going to roll out and we\u2019re not getting any answers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not what the community wants,\u201d Tory Leader Obby Khan said after question period.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have questions on safety, on funding, on how it\u2019s going to roll out and we\u2019re not getting any answers. This government loves to make big announcements and does not deliver on the work that they need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t He said there is still a long list of unanswered questions.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve asked in the chamber who will be allowed into the centre? Youth? Underage? First-time users? Pregnant women?\u201d Khan said. \u201cWill parents be notified? Will they have access to (knowing) their children are there? This government\u2019s not answering anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Kinew said he\u2019s still committed to the supervised consumption site opening, and any \u201cblame\u201d for it being delayed should be directed at him.<\/p>\n \u2014 With files from Chris Kitching<\/p>\n carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Carol Sanders Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Legislature reporter
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n